Shock-absorber.



R. M. LYON.'

SHOCK ABSORBBR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1913. A LBQQ. Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ROY M. LYON, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-TENTHS TO GUY C.

WALTER. 0.75' LENVER, COLORADO.

SHOCK-ABSORBER.

i have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock-Absorbers;and I do decla re the. followingv to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the'accompanying drawings, and to the letters' and figures ofrei'erence marked thereon, which form a part of this speciiication. y

My invention relates to iniprovemeuts in shockabsorliers more especiallyadapted for use i'n connection with automobilesand motorcycles orsimilar machines, though my improvements may be employed in otherrelations where substantially the same function required.

The device consists of a vertically tubular structure having liquidcontaining chambers at its opposite extremities in which travel pistonsconnected with the opposite ends oi a rod, the latter being centrallyconnected with an arm secured to the body of thcvehicle so that-'as thebody vibrates or moves up and down, the pistons will be reciprocated intheir respective chambers. Each chamber is composed of inner and outershells both of which are cylindrical and stationary. The inner shell ofeach is provided with a 'number of. triangular slots, the saidslots-being widest` at th`e`top in the lower chamber and widest atthebottom inv the upper chamber. As the Apistons reciprocate, that in thelower chamber moving downwardly and traveling toward the points of theslots, the area of the out-let for the liquid from the compartment belowthe piston through these trianguliar ports, is continuallv diminishingthus offering increased Spec'cation of Letters Patent.

Patented Marrit, 191% Application led March 24, 191. -Sera1No. 756,336.

the piston and consequently opensduring the downward movement thusIallowing the liquid to flow freely through the upper piston from thecompartment. ofthe chamber below the piston to the compartment abovewhen the piston is traveling downwardlv. However, when the pistons aremoving ilu the opposite direction the valve of the lower piston opensand the liquid passes freely from the upper compartment oi the chaniberinto the` lower compartmentl ,while in the case of the .upper piston thevalve closes during its upward movement and the escape ot liquid fromthe upper compartment to the lower compartment takes place by virtue cfthe triangular slots in the inner shell of the` chamber. And astheseslots diminish in area toward the top of the chamber, theresistance offered by the liquid in the upper compartmentwto the upwardtravel of the piston, increases gradually during such upward travel.`Each'chamber is provided with a stuing box through which the piston stemor rod passes, these stuiling boxes 'ormingliquid tight joints.

Having briefly outlined my improved con- Fig. 1, looking toward theleft, the parts however being shown on a much larger scale. Fig. 3, is asection taken on the line 3-3 Fig. 2, looking downwardly or in thedirection of arrow3. Fig; 4, is a detail view of the vpiston looking inthe direction of arrow 4 Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is a detail view of the innershell of the lowermost piston chamber.

' A"Thesame reference characters indicate 'the same parts in all theviews.

Let the numeral 5 designate a cylindrical tube into the oppositeextremities of which are threaded stutling boxes 6, the outer ex-,tremities of these boxes being shouldered and, interiorly threaded asshown at 7 to receive the threaded extremities of the outer shellvmembers 8 ot' the piston chambers. Each shock absorber unit isconnected with the vehicle by passing the lower stuffing box through ano] oening` 9 formed in a plate 10 which is secured to the axle 12 of thevehicle by means of U-shaped bolts 13. A lock nut 14 is interposedbetween the upper surface of the plate 10 and the lowerextremity ofthe'tube body 5. It is preferred to allow the tubular body 5 a limiteddegree of movement andfto this end the lock nut 14 may not be" screwedtightly against the plate 1U.

Within each outer shell 8 of each chamber is located acylindrical shell15 in which is formed a number of triangular slots 16, these slots-diminishing in areafrom the top. t0- Ward the bottom in Vthe lowerchamber and from the bottom toward the top in the upper chamber. Theinner shell members 15 fit closely within the outer shell members of therespective chambers and are held securely in place by means of screwedcaps 17 which are applied to the upper an'd lower extremitiesrespectively of the shells 8 of the two chambers. The stuffing boxesclose the chambers at one extremity of each, being the upper extremityofthe lower charnber and the lower extremity of the upper chamber.Within each of thesechambers is located a piston18, the twopistons beingconnected as shown at 19 with the opposite extremities of a rod 2O whichis centrally reinforced as shown at 21 and provided with an opening 22to receive the extremity 23 of an arm 24 secured to the ybody 25ct thevehicle as shown at 26. The extremity 23 is partially ball shapedto-per1nit a limited degrec of movement between the tubular body .of theshock absorber and the arm to provide for different vibratory conditionsincident to the "use of vehicles of the character with which myimprovement will be employed.. This construction cooperates with therelatively loose connection between the shock absorber and the plate 10heretofore described. To thefree extremity of the arm 24 is applied astop washer or plate 27 which is slightly curved to permit a limiteddegree of movement between the shock absorber structure and the body ofthe vehicle, the structure of this washer corresponding to andcoperating`- with the ball construction of the arm extremity heretoforeexplained.

The body of each piston 18 is provided with ports or perfor-ations 28adapted to be closed by a -valve disk 29 when the lower piston is movingdownwardly and when the upper piston is moving upwardly. For this reasonthe yalve disk of the lower piston is located below the body of thepiston while the corresponding disk of the upper piston is located aboveIthe piston body, of the piston by means of screws 30 which are Vmadefast to the valve disk'and are freely slidable within the piston body,`the shanks of the screws being of suflicient length to permit' thenecessary opening and closing movement of the valve disk, spiral springs31 being interposed between the screw heads and the piston body.`-AThese springs are lcomparatively weak and yield readily to thepressure of the liquid when it passes through' the ports 28 .of ,thepiston body, during the downward movement of the upper piston and duringthe upward. movement of the lower piston.

The outer shell of the lower chamber is provided with a port 32 topermit the filling of the chamber with liquid, preferably oil.v Thisport is normally closed by a screw plug 33. The cap 17 ofthe upperchamber is provided with' a similar port 34 normally closed by screwplug 35 the port 34 being also utilized for iilling the chamber withliquid.V A l `4ln order to regulate or vary the passage of the liquidfrom one compartment of either chamber to the other during the downwardtravel of the loiwer piston and during the upward travel of the upperpiston, a valve, plate 36 of triangularshape to conform to the shape ofone of the slots 16 of each inner shell but of less area may beemployed.

Each of these valve plates may be mounted upon a screw 37 which isthreaded in an opening 38 formed in a lug 3,9 of the valve plate thesaid lug extending into a narrow cavityv 40 extending beyond the body ofthe outer shell 8 of each chamber. T he screw 37 is journaled in theoffset portions 41 and 42 of the shell at the top and bottomrespectively of the cavity 40. One extremity of each of these screws isshaped 'as shown at 43 to receive a port key or wrench whereby the screwmay be operated for the purpose within rits slot 1G. If it is desiredvto increase the resistanceto the downward travel of the lower pistonand the upward travel of the upper piston, these valve plates may bemoved toward the smaller extremities of the slots in which they arelocated and when the edges of the valve plates are brought intoengagement with the adjacent edges. of the inner shell members thepassage of liquid'through the slot will be cut o after the.

rof adjusting lthe position of the valve plate Y piston has entered thechamber Zone inwhic'lr cylinder and cap-it would beA necessary to packthe Aopening through which the stem passedv extremely' tightly in orderthat it might withstand the force of heavy blows and if such a hardpacking were employed there would be no give where merely slightobstacles were.' encountered and the device would thus prevent thesprings of the v'ehicle from acting. In the construction of my inventionthere is no necessity for very 'tight packing of the piston stems andconsequently they mayA slide comparatively freely thus .not detractingto any appreciable extent from" the -resilience of the springs when thevehicle is passing over the slight obstacles to be encountered -uponcity streets and good-roads.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my improvedshock absorber will be readily understood.

By reference to Fig, 1, the manner of applying my shock absorbers to therear axle 12 of an automobile will be understood. As the arms 124connected with the body 25 of the vehicle as heretofore explained movedownwardly,the pistons V18 in the lower chambers in the shock absorberswill travel in a corresponding direction and force the liquidl from the'compartments of the chambers below the pistons through the slots'l andinto the compartments of these chambers above the pistons. `At the sametime the liquid in the upper chambers will move freely from the lowercompartments to the upper compartments as the valve disks 29 of theupper pistons will open freely against theirsprings 31 in response tothe pressure of the liquid as it passes through the piston openings Q8.Again as the vehicle body moves upwardly vthe reverse movement is`imparted toy the pistons in the two chambers, the liquid in the upperchambers re sisting the upward travel of the corresponding pistons`while the liquid in the lower chambers travels freely'thro.ugh\theopenings 28 of the pistons as the valve disks of the lower pistons openin response to the pressure of the liquid as it passes downwardlythrough the piston openings 28.

While l haveillustrated `in the drawing and described in thespecilication the openings or cavities in the inner surfaces of thepiston chambers as triangular in shape, the said openings `or cavitiesdiminishing in width from the top toward the bottompin the lower chamberand from the bottom toward the -top in the upper chamber, it must be.understood that the invention is not limited to this particular fshapeofiopening, as these openings may be of diii'erent shape-or contour andas long as they vary in crosssectional area betweenthe upper and lowerextremities of the chambers they will still be within the scope of myinvention as outlined by the appended claims.

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim is: 4 ,o

1. A shock absorber, comprising upper and lower chambers having shallowcavities,

lengthwise disposed in the inner surfaces of their walls, the saidcavities diminishing in area from the top toward the bottom inthe lowerchamber and from the bottom toward the top of the upper chamber, pistonsmounted imthe said chambers, and a stem connecting said pistons, eachpiston having valve f controlled orifices, the valves being arranged toclose the said orifices during the downward movement of the lower plstonand during the upwardmovement of the vupper i piston, thesaid orifices,during the reverse movements of the said pistons being open to permitthe passage of iiuid, substantially as described. j y

2. A shock absorber, comprising a verti- \cally disposed tubular 4bodymember, chambers connected with t-he body member at the oppositeextremities thereof, each chamber being composed of inner and outershells, the inner shell of each chamber bef ing provided with slotswhich .diminish in area from the top of the chamber downs wardly in thelower chamber and from the bottom of the chamber upwardly in the upperchamber, pistons located in the respective chambers, a stem connectingthe said pistons, each piston having perfora tions and being equippedwith a movable valve disk normally closing the perforations therein, thevalve disk of the lower piston being arranged to open during the upwardmovement of the said piston, while the valve disk of the upper piston isarranged to open Aduring the downward movement thereof.

3. A shock absorber, Vcomprising a vertically disposed body member,chambers connected with ythe opposite extremities of the said member,each chamber being composed of separable inner` and outer shellslclosely fitted together and connected to form a substantially integraldevice, the inner shell of each chamber having slots extendinglengthwise 'of the shell, the slots of the shell of the lower chamberdiminishing in width from the top toward the bottom, while the width ofthe slots in the inner shell of the upper chamber diminish in widthfromthe bottom toward the top, pistons fitted within the inner shells oft-herespective chambers, a stem connecting the said pistons, the pis-. tonshaving ports and equipped with valves arranged to close the said portsduring the downward movement of the lower piston and during the upwardmovement of the upper piston.

4. A shock absorber, comprising a body member adapted to be connectedwith the axle of a vehicle, chambers connected with the oppositeextremities of the said member, each chamber being composed of inner andouter shells fitted together to form a substantially integral device,each chamber being closed at the top and bottom, the inner shells of therespective chambers havingv elongated openings formed therein andextending lengthwise thereof, the said openings diminishing in area fromthe top to-,

Vward Amovement of the piston, while the check valve of the upper pistonis reversely arranged, and a stem connecting the two pistons and adaptedto be connected with the vibrating body of a vehicle, substantially asdescribed.

5. A shock absorber, having upper and lower chambers, having shallowcavities formed in the inner surfaces of their walls,

'the said cavities extending lengthwise of the chambers and varying incross-sectional area between the top and bottom of the chambers; pistonsmounted in the said chamf bers and a stem connecting said pistons, eachpiston having a valve-controlled opening, the valves lbeing arranged "toclose said openings during the downward movement ofthe lower` piston andduring the upward movement of the upper piston, the said orifices duringthe reverse movement of the said pistons being open' to permit thepassage of fluid, substantially as described,

6. A shock absorber, comprising a vertii cally disposed body member,chambers connected 'with the body member` at the oppo- `site extremitiesthereof, each chamber being composed of inner and outer shells fittedclosely together, .the inner shell of each chamber being provided. withopenings extending'vertically ofthe chamber and varyingincross-sectional area between the upper and .lower extremities of thesaid openings; pistons located in the respective chambers, a stemconnecting the said pistons, each piston having a valve-controlledopening,

the valve ofthe lower piston being arrangedto open during the upwardmovement of the said piston, `while the valve of the upper piston isarranged to open during the downward movement thereof for the purposeset forth.

Intestimony whereof I aHix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROY M.l LYON. VVitneSseS:

A. J. OBRIEN,

I C. M. WATERBY.

